


That Guy From Down the Hall

by Songbird321



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 08:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13096638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Songbird321/pseuds/Songbird321
Summary: Marco Bodt never expected to meet his soulmate in college, but he really didn't expect to be offered ice cream by his soulmate in a residence hall lounge at two in the morning when all he wanted was some peace and quiet.





	That Guy From Down the Hall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [edelloop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edelloop/gifts).



> Happy Holidays! This fic was written for edelloop for the JeanMarco Gift Exchange! I really hope that you enjoy it, dear, and that it fits what you were looking for!
> 
> A little background, the setting is heavily based on my freshman year college experience as far as classes go and such. We had an honors program that was like a separate major, and the freshman in the program all took the same course and lived in the same building freshman year. So, that's me projecting a bit cause that's what freshman year was for me. So I hope that makes sense. I don't know if it's necessary to explain that, but I figured I would. 
> 
> I sincerely hope you enjoy!

Marco had heard plenty of horror stories about college roommates, and had considered himself one of the lucky ones when he was assigned Bertholdt Hoover as a roommate. From the moment they met, Marco knew he’d struck the jackpot. Bertholdt was a quiet, kind, studious kid who was relatively neat and went to bed at reasonable times. The two of them had hit it off quickly, sharing a few classes, and got along swimmingly. Marco had thought he was in the clear. 

But he hadn’t considered the fact that his next door neighbors were also potential life-ruiners. And, as nice as the boys next door were, one of them became a serious problem at night, when his girlfriend would come over and the two of them would have a really good, really _loud_ time together. And they’d been having a great time together for about three weeks with no sign of slowing down, and it was a constant struggle for Marco and Berthold to sleep through a night without waking up to… well, that. Marco had yet to figure out which guy it was; he knew that both had girlfriends and was frankly too mortified to ask. He often wondered what happened to the other roommate at night: did he actually sleep in there, did it bother him and he was too polite to ask, did he join them? Marco had considered it all. 

But at the end of the day, he knew he’d never ask them to stop. He wasn’t prepared to have that conversation with people he’d just met. Maybe in a month or two when he knew the guys better he’d ask, but for now, while they were all still relatively strangers, that just felt too wrong. 

However, that didn’t make Marco's life any easier now, when he was lying awake at 2:30am, with an international relations test at 9:20am. He’d been up studying until 1:30 and hadn’t been able to get to sleep because of the noise, and it was doing nothing for his nerves. This was his first test ever in college, and he needed this to go well. And there was no sign that the noise in the next room was gonna stop anytime soon. 

With a huff, Marco launched himself from bed. He grabbed his pillow and an extra blanket from under his bed, pulling on a pair of socks on his way to the door. Slipping his keys from his desk, Marco shouldered the door open as quietly as possible, not to disturb Bertholdt, who was thankfully able to sleep through the noise tonight. He slipped into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind him. 

He squinted in the bright hallway light, rubbing at his eyes before he moved towards the lounge. Marco had heard other guys in the dorm say that they’d slept in the lounges before, that it wasn’t all that comfortable but was decent for a night if you needed it. Marco hoped they weren’t lying as he pulled open the lounge door, fighting a yawn. 

He didn’t notice the other boy in the lounge as he shuffled in, but it didn’t take long to notice the boy in the chair by the window, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in hand. 

Marco blinked as the boy looked up at him. The boy gave a single wave with the hand holding his spoon. 

“Sup?” he asked casually. 

“Hey,” Marco nodded, standing frozen by the door. “Can’t sleep?”

The boy shook his head, staring with interest at his ice cream. “Nah, my roommate brought a girl home without telling me, and locked me out when I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.”

“That sucks,” Marco replied, eyebrows furrowing. 

“Yep,” the boy replied, raising his eyebrows in reply as he ate another spoonful of ice cream. Marco nodded, staring wistfully at the couch. His eyes floated to the door, considering returning to his own room. But the boy beat him to it when he said, “What are you waiting for? Take the couch.”

“Thanks,” Marco said as he shuffled forward and set his stuff up on the couch. 

The boy laughed. “You don’t need my permission. It’s not my lounge,” he chuckled. 

“But you were here first,” Marco pointed out as he settled against the cushions, holding his blanket in his lap. 

The boy shrugged. “Still. Better to suffer together right?” He winked at Marco, and Marco smiled. “So did your roommate sexile you too?”

“No. It’s just my neighbors are so loud when they… you know,” Marco said, widening his eyes to emphasize his point without saying it. 

The boy’s head cocked to the side. “Where do you live?”

“318,” Marco answered. 

The boy’s eyes widened as he tapped his chest and said, “I live in 314!”

Marco’s jaw dropped. “So you hear them too?!”

“All the damn time,” the boy replied exasperatedly. “My roommate and I can’t stand it. He actually started banging on the wall the other night, but it was no use.”

Marco chuckled. “I’m sure they couldn’t hear you.”

“Right,” the boy said in response. He then held out his hand, leaning forward to reach Marco. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Jean.”

Marco reached forward to reach Jean’s hand with a shake. “I’m Marco.”

“Cool,” Jean replied, settling back against the cushions of his chair. “Are you in honors?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you before,” Jean said, eyeing Marco again. “Whose discussion are you in?”

“Dr. Brzenska. You?”

“Professor Zacharius,” Jean answered. “That’s probably why we haven’t seen each other much.”

“Probably,” Marco agreed. “What’s your major?”

“Biochem,” Jean answered, rolling his eyes. “With French and photography minors for now. What about you?”

“Secondary education and English double major,” Marco answered. 

“Nice,” Jean nodded. “Another reason we won’t see each other much.”

“Right,” Marco laughed. “We humanities majors aren’t allowed to associate with you hard science people.”

Jean raised his eyebrows as he dug out another spoonful of ice cream. “Really? Cause they tell us to take every opportunity to associate with you and belittle you for your choice of major.” 

Marco snorted out a laugh and a smile peeked at the corners of Jean’s mouth as he slid the spoon into his mouth. “What flavor is that?”

“Chocolate Peanut Buttery Swirl,” Jean replied, turning the label so Marco could see it. “It’s my second favorite.”

“What’s your first?” 

“Half baked.”

“Same!”

“What’s your second favorite?”

“Cherry Garcia.”

Jean pointed at Marco with his spoon. “See, my theory is that there are certain kinds of people for all ice cream types. You probably aren’t a big fan of flavors with peanut butter, right?”

“I mean, they’re not my favorite but I’ll eat them,” Marco replied, confused. 

Jean nodded. “No, that counts. Cause you prefer the sweeter flavors, yeah? Like, fruity flavors or just straight up chocolate or vanilla?”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Marco answered, still not getting it. 

“Well, that’s a pattern,” Jean exclaimed. 

“Is it though?” Marco said, laughing slightly. 

“I think so.” Jean shrugged. “I think that there are three types of ice cream flavors: sweet, salty, and savory. Peanut buttery flavors range from salty to savory, and most people tend to prefer sweet to anything else.”

“Give me an example of each type,” Marco challenged.

Jean shifted in his chair, setting his feet flat on the floor and freeing his arms to move as he talked. “So, sweet is like your basic vanilla, or strawberry, or orange and cream. Basically, anything plain with no mixings or with fruit. Savory is also easily defined. It’s flavors that include cookies or fudge or chips of any kind. Some sort of add in that fills you up faster. And salty is the rarest category, that sometimes includes peanut butter and other flavors that make you really thirsty afterwards. That one’s rare, but we can’t discard it completely, you know? Does that all make sense?”

Marco nodded. “Yeah, that’s a pretty well-thought out system.”

“Thank you,” Jean said with a triumphant nod of his head. 

“Where’d you get the ice cream?” Marco asked. 

“I’d left it in a friend’s room,” Jean replied with a bit of a sigh. 

“So they let you take your ice cream but not stay the night?” Marco asked, head cocking innocently to the side. 

“Well, she would’ve let me stay, but her roommate was getting all up in arms about it,” Jean responded, scowling with displeasure. “She was going on about having a test tomorrow and getting all worked up about the idea of me sleeping on the floor and it ‘ruining her rest’ and shit.”

“Seriously?” Marco asked incredulously. 

“Honors kids are weird, man,” Jean said matter of factly. 

“We’re honors kids,” Marco pointed out. 

“And we’re both up having a conversation categorizing ice cream flavors at three in the morning, so I think we fit that description,” Jean countered. 

Marco laughed. “Fair. Is it really three?”

Jean took his phone from his pocket and nodded. “Four minutes till. Close enough. You want to go to bed?”

“Yeah, I think that would be best. I have a test in the morning,” Marco replied. 

“You want me to find a different lounge? Scared my presence will ‘ruin your rest?’” Jean joked sarcastically. 

Marco laughed lightheartedly. “No, stay here. It’s your lounge too.”

“Thanks,” Jean laughed back. He turned back to his ice cream as Marco spread his blanket over his legs on the couch. Jean turned to him suddenly, holding out the ice cream container. “Marco, do you want the last of this? There’s like a bite left, but I just can’t do it.”

Marco’s mouth opened to tell him that he’d already brushed his teeth, and that they barely knew each other. But something told him not to refuse, and his lips formed the word “Yes,” and Jean handed over the spoon and container. Marco ate the last of the ice cream and thanked Jean for it, to which he got a slight shrug in response as the other boy curled himself up in the chair once more. 

“Hey Jean?” 

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to share the couch?”

One hazel eye cracked open to look at him. “Why? I don’t think we’ll fit.”

“I just… you were here first and that chair looks really uncomfortable…”

“I’ll be okay,” Jean said with a reassuring smile. “I was going to sleep here anyway…”

“Really?!”

“I like tight spaces.”

Marco gave him a wary look. “If you’re sure…”

Jean gave him a nod and a reassuring smile. “I am. Don’t worry about me. Goodnight Marco.”

Marco nodded. “Goodnight Jean.”

When Marco woke up, Jean was gone. 

~  
And he didn’t see him again for two weeks. 

One Sunday evening, Marco brought his copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl into the lounge, and set it up in the community Wii. No one else was around to battle, so he started a new game on adventure mode to pass the time. He'd been playing for about fifteen minutes when he was pleasantly interrupted. 

“Hey Marco.”

Marco paused the game, turning around to see Jean enter the lounge, walking to the small table and slamming down a pile of books. 

“Hey Jean! How are you?” Marco asked brightly. 

Jean shrugged. “Surviving. We have our first bio test tomorrow.” Marco nodded sympathetically. “How about you?”

“I’m doing pretty good. Just turned in my first English paper.”

“Nice,” Jean replied. “I’m sure you’re happy that’s over.”

“Probably as happy as you’ll be tomorrow after your test.”

“Yeah,” Jean said with a forced laugh, staring wide-eyed at his stack of books. “It’s gonna be a bloodbath.”

Marco frowned. “I’m sorry.” 

Jean shrugged again. “It is what it is. Its just cause it’s the first test that we’re all freaking out. Once we know how it goes, we’ll be fine. It’s just… the first one is all.” 

Marco nodded. “I understand. Do you want me to leave the lounge to give you some peace and quiet?” 

“Not necessary.” Jean shook his head. “Having some background noise usually helps me focus. I can’t handle silence. Besides.” He held up a pair of headphones. “I’ve got these.”

“Gotch’a. Let me know if at any time you need me to leave,” Marco said. 

Jean gave him a thumbs up as he slipped his headphones on. “Will do.” 

Marco mirrored his thumbs up before turning back to his game. He turned the volume down a bit before turning pause off and continued playing. He did his best to hit the keys as quietly as possible, and to not make too much noise if something went really well or not. But after a few more minutes of adventure mode, Marco was ready for a change and saved his game. He set the game up for battle mode. 

“Hey Jean, want to take a break and play a round or two?” Marco asked, turning around to find a vacant seat next to the table. Puzzled, Marco’s eyes moved to the door and then the other way, towards the window, where Jean was standing with his textbook dangerously close to the window. He was looking at Marco like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Are you trying to throw your textbook out the window?!”

“Yes!” Jean replied. 

“Why?!” Marco exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and moving towards the window, ready to lunge for the book in case Jean actually threw it. 

“Because it’s dumb!” Jean exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest. The book sat on the windowsill, safe for the moment. “I’m gonna fail this test, Marco!”

“No, you’re not. You’re gonna take that book, and you’re gonna sit at that table, and you’re gonna study and nail that test,” Marco said. He grabbed the book and marched to the table, gesturing for Jean to return to his chair. “I will sit here and watch you if you need someone to keep you accountable.”

“I don’t need to be kept accountable. I need all of his information to be put into my brain,” Jean said, running his hands through his hair. It stuck up at odd angles, and Marco wondered how many times Jean had done that that day. 

“Well, come try to cram it in there,” Marco said, patting the top of the chair Jean was sitting in. 

“No.”

“Jean,” Marco said warningly. “Come study.”

“No.”

“Do you want to play a round of Super Smash Brothers and then study?”

“No. I want to throw my book out the window and go to bed.”

Marco sighed. He pulled out the other chair at the table and sat down. “Well, you can’t do that, so you might as well join me. Come on. Come teach me some biology.” Jean’s eyebrows furrowed. “Come on! They say that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Come teach me about the stuff on your test and then you’ll know if you got it or not.”

Jean stared warily at him for a few moments before returning to the table. He slid the study guide he’d made to Marco, (which was really impressive and comprehensive from what Marco could tell, each subject highlighted in a different color and different pen colors signaling the importance of the information.) 

“We’ll take it section by section, okay?” he said, not meeting Marco’s eyes as he pulled out his notebook and opened to a blank page. “I’ll explain the concept and you’ll check my notes to see if I did it right.”

Marco nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” Jean nodded back and began to explain the first concept. 

Marco diligently listened to Jean’s explanations, nodding along and watching the diagrams and definitions Jean wrote in the notebook to help him explain the concepts better. He asked questions here and there to get Jean to explain even more than he had to know for the test to show him how prepared he really was. They sat in the lounge and worked through the study guide, step by step, until 1am, when Jean felt ready enough to call it a night and go to sleep. He thanked Marco profusely as they went their separate way in the hall, and promised to let him know how the test went. Marco smiled as he slipped into 318 with a final wave to Jean, feeling confident in Jean’s ability to crush his test and satisfied with the role he played in helping him gain that confidence. 

The following Monday, Marco came home from his fiction studies class to find a post-it note on his door. 

_Marco, I got a 96%! All because of you! Thank you! – Jean  
P.S. I left something for you with your roommate. _

Marco smiled, pulling the post-it from the door as he unlocked it and went inside. Bertholdt was gone, but he’d put Jean’s gift on Marco’s desk. A bag of Skittles sat there with a second post-it note. 

_I wanted to get you Smarties, but they taste bad, so I got Skittles instead._

Marco laughed to himself as he put both notes up on his bulletin board, and stole a post-it from Bertholdt’s desk to write a response back to his new friend. 

~

The next time Marco saw Jean was the Thursday after they’d exchanged post-it notes. He was sitting in the dining hall, reading a book as he ate a quiet dinner alone, by choice. He’d made enough friends and acquaintances to never have to eat alone unless he wanted to. And tonight he’d decided to just quietly read to himself as he ate. 

The universe had other plans.

Two pages into reading, Marco heard a familiar voice say, “Hey Marco,” from rather close. Marco looked up to see Jean smiling at him, holding a plate of food with two other people close behind him. “Mind if we join you?”

“Of course!” Marco said, hurriedly putting his book to the side as Jean and his friends sat down. One was a boy with a buzz cut and a Star Wars t-shirt, and the other was a girl with long brown hair and a black cardigan over a red tank top. He turned to Jean with a quick smile. 

“Marco, these are my friends, Connie and Sasha,” Jean said, pointing to the boy and girl respectively. “Guys, this is Marco, that guy from down the hall.”

Connie’s eyes widened before he made a noise as if he’d been kicked and he turned a glare in Sasha’s direction. For her part, the girl simply smiled at Marco. “It’s nice to meet you, Marco.”

“You too,” he replied. “Do you two live in Sina hall too?”

“Yep. I’m in 2 North,” Sasha replied, holding up a two with her fingers. 

“And I’m in 3 Main,” Connie said. “Right next to 3 South, where you and Jean are.”

“Cool,” Marco replied, nodding. “And you’re both in honors?”

“Yes, they are,” Jean answered this time. “They’re both in Zacharius’ discussion with me. They’re pretty cool, but Connie can’t write for shit.”

“I make up for it with great discussion in class!” Connie exclaimed defensively. 

“Still doesn’t make up for the paper you turned in to your anthropology professor last week. Imagine what honors is gonna do to you when we have our first one due next week?” Jean said. 

“Oh leave him alone,” Sasha said with a chastised smile. “I’m sure we can whip him into shape by then.”

“Well, I’m an English major is that helps,” Marco volunteered. “I’d be happy to edit any papers you guys need checked.”

Connie’s eye widened. “Dude, seriously? You’d do that?”

Marco shrugged, a smile pulling at the corner’s of his mouth. “Of course. I love writing, and I’m gonna be an English teacher so I might as well learn how to edit other people’s writing.”

“You’re an education major?” Sasha asked. Marco nodded. She held up her hand for a high five. “Same! What section are you in right now?”

“Six?” Marco replied, accepting the offered high five. “You?”

“Seven,” Sasha answered. “Guess we just missed each other, huh?”

“Yeah. Next semester, maybe,” Marco replied. Sasha nodded.

“Look at this. Haven’t even known him for two minutes and you’re already friends,” Jean sighed, shaking his head. But he was smiling not a moment later. 

Marco’s heart pumped a little harder at that smile. Admittedly, he’d been waiting for another encounter with Jean. After attaching a ‘thank you’ post-it to the door of 314, Marco had been debating whether or not to send another post-it, just something casual to start up conversation. He’s also been hoping to come home to find Jean had sent him a post-it first, but knew that was most likely wishful thinking. 

Either way, his indecision hadn’t cost him anything. Here he and Jean were, eating dinner together. And Marco even got to meet some new friends out of it. He laughed harder and smiled longer at that simple dining hall dinner than he had in a while; he hadn’t felt this comfortable with people yet in college, and it was a breath of fresh air to be so happy now. 

As they all walked back to Sina hall, Sasha asked for Marco’s number, and he noticed that Jean and Connie also added it to their phones as he recited it for her. Sasha promised to add him to their group chat, to keep him in the know about when they would grab dinner or go on adventures. Marco thanked her, not realizing he’d feel so excited at being added to a group chat. Maybe it was the excitement of making new friends that caused him to smile like an idiot for the rest of the night. 

Or maybe it was the way that Jean had smiled at him as the group had dispersed for the evening, that simple smile that said ‘I’m happy you’re here.’ 

Either way, Marco slept peacefully that night, buoyed by the happy memories of dinner and the promise of new friendships that had the potential to become forever friendships. And maybe even something more…

~

After that Thursday night, Marco officially joined Jean’s friend group. Their triad became a foursome, and they quickly became inseparable. People in the honors program recognized them as one of the unofficial ‘cliques,’ and if someone asked where one member was, others would direct them to the other three knowing that they were probably together. They grabbed meals together whenever possible, studied together, and spent weekends watching movies and playing video games in each other’s rooms, and often going out into the town to explore. 

Sometimes Jean’s roommate Armin would come along, sometimes bringing his best friends Eren and Mikasa. These meetings were a 50/50 shot of fun, cause Eren and Jean didn’t exactly get along. But, if Marco was able to diffuse the tension before it got bad, then everything would work out fine. And it was even better when Bertholdt and his friends mixed with the group, adding even more bodies to separate Jean and Eren and keep the tension low. 

At most, the group reached twelve, with the addition of Bertholdt’s friends (a boy Reiner from down the hall, and three girls, Annie, Ymir, and Historia.) And Marco had never been happier than when he was hanging out with any number of his new friends. 

But most of all, he treasured his friendship with Jean. They had inside jokes that the others didn’t understand; they talked about ice cream categories and throwing textbooks out windows and communicating solely through post-it notes. They talked about how post-it notes could’ve drastically changed the plot of a number of famous movies, no matter how contrived the plot became after they’d meddled with it. They always played on the same Super Smash Brothers team, and usually won. Marco helped Jean study for biology, and Jean let Marco rant to him about his English papers so that he could get all his ideas in order before writing. They watched movies and TV shows together, and quoted them to each other all the time. They knew each other’s favorite books and least favorite foods, almost everything. And yet they never grew tired of each other; there was always something new to discover about each other, and on top of that, they just found one another so refreshing to be around. 

Marco had never been happier. And from the way that Sasha kept commenting about how she’d never seen Jean smile so much, Marco knew Jean had never been happier either. 

And that made him feel even happier. 

~

What Marco didn’t know was that Jean was happy as he was. He’d never had a best friend before. Yes, he’d had friends, but going into college he realized that he didn’t have _that one person_ he knew he could always count on to be there. But he did now. Ever since he’d met Marco, he knew there was something special about him. After that first night in the lounge, he figured it would just be a casual friendship, seeing each other every now and then and bonding over their horribly loud neighbors. But after the second time, when Marco helped him study for that test, that’s when he knew this was something to pursue, hold onto. 

Jean wasn’t quite sure when the lines between friend crush and real crush blurred, but along the way they had. And he was 90% positive Marco felt the same. But Jean wasn’t one to jump unless the odds were 100% certain. And besides, being friends with Marco was great. They had all the time in the world to take that next step, so what was the harm in growing together as friends a little more? 

Jean didn’t tell anyone any of this. Sure, he knew that he could open up to any of his new friends, but he knew the only one he could trust completely to keep his secret was Marco, and that was the one person he couldn’t tell yet. So he just kept on as normal. 

Or as normal as he could. Which actually got a little hard when he got the flu the weekend after Halloween. 

The group had plans to go see a comedy show Friday night, and Jean had told them all to go ahead when he’d felt his stomach start flipping dangerously. He’d felt off all day, but hadn’t expected to actually end up curled on the bathroom floor. He forgot about his friends, not even thinking to dig his phone from his pocket and tell them to go ahead without him. 

The thought didn’t occur to him until he head the bathroom door swing open and his name being called in a refreshingly familiar voice. “Jean?” Marco asked, voice ringing slightly in the small, tiled room. “Jean, are you in here?” 

“Here.” Jean stuck a pale hand out from beneath the door of the second stall. He hear Marco hurry over, and he reached up to unlock the door just as Marco’s hand reached to pull it open. Marco found Jean sitting on the floor… well, sitting was a very liberal term. He was actually slumped against the stall wall, knees bent up to keep him steady. His face was ten shades paler than normal, tinted slightly green. The hand resting on his stomach was shaking. The eyes that met Marco’s were tired, a lackluster brown instead of the bright hazel they usually were. 

“I have a feeling that you’re not up to going out anymore, huh?” Marco joked automatically, a smile pulling at his lips. 

“What do you mean? This is exactly how I wanted to spend my Friday night,” Jean replied as casually as possible, rubbing at his eyes with both hands. He moaned again. “I’m sorry.” Marco’s eyebrows wrinkled with sympathy as he knelt down next to the fair-haired boy and pressed a hand to his forehead. The skin was both hot and clammy to the touch.

Marco clicked his tongue, rubbing Jean’s shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t apologize. Come on. We should get you back to your room. You think you’re gonna be able to make it there?” Jean nodded, taking a deep breath before holding out his hands. Marco clasped his hands around Jean’s and helped pull the other boy to his feet, wrapping an arm around Jean’s shaking shoulders to stop the swaying. “Come on,” he encouraged gently, helping walk him out of the stall. 

“Wait,” Jean said, pulling away from Marco’s grip. Marco froze, fear etched on his face as he seemed to expect Jean to be sick again. Instead, Jean held up his hands before stumbling to the skin. “Gotta wash my hands. These floors are disgusting.”

Marco chuckled lightly, watching Jean closely as he washed the dirt from his hands. He offered Jean his elbow when he was finished, earning him a look of confusion. “You’re swaying.” Jean simply nodded and wrapped his arm through Marco’s, allowing the taller boy to lead him. 

The brunette pushed open the bathroom door, nearly hitting Connie in the face. 

“Whoa! Hey! We were just coming to make sure everything was okay!” the shorter boy exclaimed quickly, tipping back on his heels as Marco automatically apologized for almost hitting him with the door. Connie’s eyes found their linked arms. “And it looks to me like everything’s fine. Maybe even more than fine?” 

Marco’s cheeks lit up like a Christmas tree. Thankfully, Reiner and Bertholdt were right behind Connie, and looked about ready to jump in lest he say anything more. “Don’t worry. Things are just fine,” Marco said as simply as possible. “But we’re gonna stay here tonight. Jean’s not feeling too great.” 

“Aw, dude, that sucks,” Reiner sighed sympathetically. 

“Yeah,” Jean moaned pitifully, his grip on Marco’s arm tightening. His shoulders began to cave like a child trying to hide behind his mom. 

“Do you want us to stay back too?” Bertholdt asked.

“No, of course not. Go have fun!” Marco said, nodding assuredly. “I just don’t think he should be alone right now, so I’ll stay. We’ll just go watch some Disney movies, yeah?” Jean smiled at that. “We’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Reiner said warily, eyeing Jean nervously. “Text us if you need anything or you need us to come back early.”

“Will do,” Marco said with a salute. “Have fun.”

The three boys wished them good night and disappeared down the hall, leaving Marco to maneuver the still swaying Jean down the hall to his room. Luckily, 314 was one of the closest to the restrooms, so they didn’t have far to go. And the door was mercifully unlocked. 

Once they got inside, Marco steered Jean towards his bed, sitting him down before rummaging through what he knew was Jean’s pajama drawer. Jean watched him, transfixed. He was finding it hard to focus right now, blaming it on the fever that was slowly settling in, and all he could think about as he stared at his best friend was his name. Marco, Marco, Marco…

“Okay, here we go,” Marco said, turning back to Jean and placing a faded grey t-shirt and a pair of blue and red flannel pajama pants on Jean’s lap. “Put those on and get in bed and I’ll go fill up your water bottle, okay?”

“Okay,” Jean answered, slowly moving to change. His body felt like it was made of lead, but Marco seemed satisfied and left. Jean stripped off his clothes very slowly, and got lost in his new shirt more times than he was willing to admit before he got it on successfully. All he wanted was to go to sleep… and for Marco to come back. And his thoughts drifted to Marco again…

When Marco came back, Jean looked up at him like he hadn’t expected to see him again. 

“Hey,” Jean said, as if he had something serious to tell Marco. The taller boy hurried closer, concerned. “Has anyone ever told you that your freckles kinda look like stars?”

Marco’s face melted from concern to confusion to amusement in a matter of seconds. “I get that a lot, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yep, that’s probably the most common simile about them, actually.”

“Damn, I wanted to original,” Jean muttered. Marco chuckled to himself, setting the water bottle by Jean’s bed. 

“Did you take your contacts out?” Marco asked. Jean shook his head, and quickly slipped them out and tossed them in the trash, murmuring something about how they’d been in over a month anyway. “There you go. Do you want to watch a movie or…”

“Have you ever tried to count your freckles?” Jean asked suddenly, staring searchingly up at Marco’s face. 

“No, I haven’t,” Marco said with an amused grin. 

“Hmmm. I’ll have to do that sometime,” Jean said. 

“Not now?”

“No. I’m too tired now,” Jean replied. “I can’t count when I’m tired.”

“Then we’ll table that for now,” Marco said, pulling out the chair from Jean’s desk and setting it next to him. “You want to watch a movie or go to sleep?”

“Sleep.”

“Okay. Want me to stay?”

“Yes.”

Marco smiled warmly. “Okay. Is there anything I can do you for?”

Jean blinked a few times, thinking. “Sing for me?”

Marco was a bit thrown off by the request, but also a little honored. Jean had heard him sing by accident once, and had told Marco he thought he had one of the best voices he’d ever heard. Marco didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but he couldn’t resist singing for him now. 

“Okay. What song?”

Jean smiled. “Anything.” Marco thought for a moment. 

“ _There’s a sweet surrender, to the rush of day,_ ” Marco sang softly. “ _When the heat of the rolling wind can be turned away. An enchanted moment, and it sees me through. It’s enough for this restless warrior just to be with you._ ” 

Jean sang along with him to the chorus, his voice just barely audible. “ _And can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are. It’s enough for this wide-eyed warrior, that we got this far._ ” Marco hardly felt the smile as it snuck up his face at the peaceful, sleepy smile taking over Jean’s as the fair-haired boy’s eyes slipped close. “ _And can you feel the love tonight? How it’s laid to rest. It’s enough to make kings and vagabonds, believe the very best._ ” 

Even as Jean’s voice fell away, Marco continued his song. His strategy seemed to be working and he wasn’t about to let such an amazing song go unfinished. “ _There’s a time for everyone, if they only learn, that the twisting kaleidoscope, moves us all in turn._ ” Jean shifted slowly, stretching out his legs before curling them even closer to his chest, settling on his side. Marco unconsciously adjusted the blanket to keep him warm. “ _There’s a rhyme and reason, to the wild outdoors, when the heart of this star-crossed voyager, beats in time with yours._ ”

“ _And can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are. It’s enough, for this wide-eyes wanderer, that we got this far._ ” Marco hardly noticed how his fingers continued to rub soothing circles in Jean’s shoulder until he felt the compulsion to brush those fingers through his friend’s hair. Even though the gesture had the same intent, comfort, there seemed to be something much more intimate about touching the hair. The very thought made Marco’s cheeks burn. 

But it didn’t stop him from singing. “ _And can you feel the love tonight? How it’s laid to rest. It’s enough to make kings and vagabonds, believe the very best._ ”

Jean’s breathing had normalized into the gentle tide of sleep. His chest rose and fell like waves in the sea. Marco smiled, giving the boy’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “ _It’s enough, to make kings and vagabonds, believe the very best,Jean, text me when you wake up so I know you made it through the night. Also, text me if you need anything! Feel better soon! With Love, Marco_

Jean never forgot that _With Love_. It was a very Marco thing to say, and he most likely would’ve said it to anybody. But he’d given those words to Jean, and they were some of the most important words Jean ever had to hold onto. 

~

Two weeks later, and they’d grown closer than ever. Still spending nearly every moment together. Others had started to notice that they were joined at the hip, and a few more had picked up on the something else growing in time with that friendship. 

And even though both Jean and Marco felt it too, they kept acting as if they were only friends. 

“These papers are torture.”

Marco laughed. “To you, maybe. I think they’re kinda fun.”

The earned him a soft bop on the head. Marco only laughed, playfully hitting Jean back. 

“If you think they’re so fun, wanna write mine too?” he asked, eyebrows raised hopefully. 

“Yeah right,” Marco snorted. “Does academic honesty mean anything to you?”

“Ugh, you’re insufferable!” Jean exclaimed, rolling onto his back. Marco smirked, turning back to his computer. “Where do you think Armin and Sasha got off to?” 

“They probably got roped into getting dinner with Reiner and them,” Marco said. 

“But we sent them on snack reconnaissance!” Jean said as if this were a blood promise they couldn’t break. 

“I’m just as wounded as you are,” Marco replied offhandedly, typing away at his paper. Jean groaned again. “Stop whining and write your paper.”

“I’m not whining,” Jean said, flipping onto his stomach so he could watch Marco write. Marco tried not to let his audience throw him, continuing to type away an analysis of Plato’s _Apology of Socrates_. 

“Nice word choice,” Jean commented, words muffled as his mouth was currently hidden behind his wrist. 

“Thanks,” Marco muttered back as he dramatically hit the enter bar, finishing his third body paragraph. He set his laptop down and stretched. “I need to stand up. My legs are gonna die if I stay like this.” Jean chuckled as Marco pushed himself to his feet and stretched again, his back giving a small pop. 

“You don’t have to sit on the floor, you know,” Jean said as Marco began to take a lap around the room. “This is like your second home. You’re free to sit anywhere.”

“Thank you,” Marco said with a smile. “I know I don’t have to sit there, but it’s completely different from my desk, so it’s kind of nice.”

Jean shrugged. “You do you, man.” His eyes gazed down at his phone as Marco took a few more laps, admiring the room. Jean and Armin kept things very neat in their room, or at least neater than Marco and Bertholdt, who were also neater than most. Armin had a few anime posters on the wall by his bed, as well as a Hogwarts banner and photographs of his family and friends from home. Jean had one Star Wars poster and a few artsy photographs he’d taken in high school hung on the wall. He’d also hung up a series of pictures drawn by the squad, from a night when they’d snuck in a little alcohol and decided to draw group portraits. The drawings weren’t half bad, and it made Marco proud to know that Jean had put his in the middle of the pack. 

“Hey Marco?” The boy turned to Jean with his head cocked to the side. Jean pointed towards his desk. “Hey, could you grab _The Symposium_ for me? I have to check something Eren’s claiming. I want to prove he’s wrong.”

Marco nodded and moved to the desk and scanned the bookshelf for the dialogue, running his fingers down the spines of the books. His finger hit the tiny _Symposium_. As he pulled the book from the shelf, a piece of paper escaped. Marco fumbled to catch the fly away. He moved to put it back, but the words on the page caught his eyes:

_**New Similes/Metaphors/Analogies for Freckles:**_

****

****

****_Stars = No_  
Dalmation Spots  
Splatter Paint  
Ink Stains  
Sun Kisses (Does that sound stupid?)  
Fireflies  
Poppy Seeds 

Marco beamed, slipping the paper back on the shelf and turning around to toss the book Frisbee style to Jean, whose eyes were glued to his computer. Jean’s hand moved to seamlessly catch the book, but he never would’ve caught Marco seeing his private note. For his part, Marco said nothing, simply moving back to his spot on the floor next to Jean’s bed. He opened his laptop and kept typing. 

“Hey Jean?” 

“Hm?” 

“I appreciate you.”

“Okay,” Jean said with a laugh. “I appreciate you too, you weirdo.” 

Marco had wanted to say more, but felt good with that for now. He picked up his phone and sent a thumbs up emoji to Armin, signaling that it was time for him and Sasha to come back. Sure he hadn’t made a move like Sasha had told him to, but still. He was gonna take this at his own pace. 

~

The Saturday before finals week was a mess. 

Marco hadn’t slept at all Friday night. He’d never experienced a finals week before, and while he’d been able to succeed thus far in his college career, the prospect of finals scared him terribly. He began to panic just thinking about studying, and it prevented him from getting anything more done than just pacing around his room and crying a bit. 

Bertholdt had noticed immediately and had done his best to settle Marco down, which had worked for a bit. He’d offered to help Marco study the following day, as he was committed to a study group for his history class that day, and agree to that made Marco feel a bit better. But only for a short while as he now felt that he was wasting today.

He wasted most of the day, procrastinating out of exhaustion and anxiety. 

It got to the point where Bertholdt had to physically call Jean in to help, as no one else could get through to him. 

“Jean, I’m gonna fail.” Marco was on his bed, knees pulled to his chest, rocking ever so slightly. “I’m gonna fail them all.”

“You’re not,” Jean said, busy with something on the desk that Marco couldn’t see. 

“I am. I can’t study. I’m gonna fail.”

“Marco.”

“And then I’m gonna flunk out of college and become a failure…”

“Marco.” 

Cold hands cupping his face woke Marco from his stress coma, and he looked up into warm hazel eyes. “Marco, calm down,” Jean said softly, hands firm against Marco’s cheeks. “You’re going to be fine. You have all A’s right now, especially in honors. And you got an A on the last honors exam. Why is this one any different?”

Marco shrugged. Jean nodded, letting go of Marco’s face as he stepped out of view. Marco almost reached for him to come back. 

Jean returned a moment later with two mugs. He passed one to Marco. 

“Coffee,” Jean said as Marco’s fingers wrapped around the mug. “Fuel to finish this study guide so you can get some sleep. If we pound this out then we can cruise for the rest of the week. Sound good? You can do your English and international relations study guides tomorrow, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“And I’ll help you through every step of the way, okay?”

“Okay.”

“After you do the study guides, you can teach the material to me, yeah? Just like you did for me for that first biology test, remember? And then, when you’re done, we can throw all your books out the window for therapeutic purposes?” Jean suggested with a smile meant to calm Marco down. 

It worked a bit, as Marco began to crack a smile of his own. “Can we get some sweet flavored ice cream too?”

Jean’s smile widened to his eyes. “We can get all the sweet flavored ice cream we can eat.”

“Then let’s do this.”

~

The afternoon after their honors final, the entire squad escaped the rest of the program and got pizza and gelato at their favorite corner pizzeria. They laughed together, celebrating the weight of that exam lifted from their shoulders and they didn’t talk about the test once. They just enjoyed one another’s company. Marco sat next to Jean and tried not to freak out every time their shoulders or feet accidentally touched. 

The night after their honors final, Sasha, Connie, and Jean came to Marco’s room. They had talked about playing a few rounds of Super Smash Brothers, but Sasha had a paper to finish, and Connie still had a test to study for. Jean was going home early the next morning, and Marco would leave that next afternoon. So they opted to watch a movie instead, something that they could all absently listen to and just talk through. 

They put in _Ted_ , and only watched about half of it, spending most of it just talking, sharing stories about their pets at home and relaxing after their honors exam. Every now and then, Sasha would ask them if a point in her paper made sense, and they’d all discuss it, leading them into discussions of the strangest things. It was a perfect night, the perfect close to the semester. 

Once Connie and Sasha called it a night, hugging both Jean and Marco goodbye, Jean stayed in Marco’s room. They debated watching another movie, but opted to just turn on Netflix instead, something shorter and simple. The theme of _The Office_ rolled as they sat side by side on Marco’s bed, inches apart. 

Marco felt his heart beating fast, and wondered if Jean felt the same. 

“Do you think Sasha and Connie are dating?” Jean asked out of the blue. 

Marco’s head whirled to look at him, caught completely off-guard. “What?” he asked with a laugh. 

Jean’s head swiveled to look at him too. “Don’t you just get that vibe from them?”

Marco’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know…”

“I mean, if I didn’t know better, I’d think they left just now to go make out in Connie’s room,” Jean said. 

Marco sputtered and smacked Jean’s shoulder. “Jean!” 

“What? I’m serious!” Jean said defensively, sitting up a little straighter. “I just get those lovey-dovey vibes from them! You seriously don’t see any romantic tension between them?”

“I mean…” Marco thought about it, recalling all of his interactions with both Sasha and Connie, and the two of them together. He cocked his head to the side, considering. “I guess you’re right. There definitely is a vibe there.”

“Sasha shares her food with Connie and Connie only. I think that’s the only sign we need,” Jean said with a definitive nod. Marco snorted, hitting Jean’s arm again. “Marco, I mean it. That’s a big tell with her.”

“A love tell?” Marco asked. “Is this another one of your patterns?”

“Yeah. Everyone has love tells.”

“Really?” Marco asked. 

“Uh-huh.” Jean nodded, meeting Marco’s eyes. A spark seemed to jump between them, and both boys looked away sharply, eyes finding the screen without seeing Dwight and Jim’s antics. Marco’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. Silence lapsed, both boy pretending to be absorbed in the drama of the show. But Marco had a feeling Jean’s thoughts weren’t in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and thought that maybe Jean knew his weren’t either. 

“You’re my best friend, you know,” Jean said suddenly, voice quiet. Marco’s eyes snapped to him. Jean’s eyes remained fixed on the screen, gazing far beyond it. “I mean that.”

“I know you do,” Marco whispered. 

Jean looked up at him, searching his eyes. Marco didn’t break contact this time.

“You’re my best friend too,” Marco said. Jean’s expression didn’t change, still staring at Marco’s eyes as if trying to read something in them. 

“You know what would be so stupid?” Jean said, his head tilting ever so slightly. Those hazel irises were sparkling with a challenge. 

“What?” Marco asked, his lips curling into a smile that promised to take that challenge. 

“If we kissed right now,” Jean said with a rebellious lift of his eyebrows. 

“Oh my gosh, that would be so stupid,” Marco replied, instinctively leaning a little closer. 

“So stupid,” Jean parroted back, leaning in himself. 

“So incredibly stupid,” Marco shook his head. 

And just like that, Marco was kissing Jean. Or Jean was kissing Marco. The brunette couldn’t tell who jumped first. All he knew was that Jean Kirschtein had his lips pressed against his, and it felt like paradise.

Marco’s hands found Jean’s shoulders, winding around his shoulder blades, fingers running over the smooth fabric of his shirt, feeling the taut muscles underneath. 

If it weren’t for the feeling of Jean’s icy cold hands cupping his face, anchoring him to reality, Marco would’ve thought this was all a dream. 

Only the need for air broke them apart, both moving back only a few inches, gasping in practically the same oxygen.

“That…” Marco muttered, brain turning madly to form cohesive words. 

“Wow…” Jean breathed in reply. 

“That was…?”

“Stupid?” 

Marco laughed, head collapsing against Jean’s shoulder. “So stupid,” he agreed, looking up into Jean’s eyes. The glow of the lamp made turned them the color of pure gold. As if a magnet were pulling him, Marco moved forward again and met Jean’s lips halfway, crashing into another beautifully chaotic kiss. Marco’s hands wound around Jean’s back, holding them closer together as Jean’s arms wound around his neck, his fingers tangling in Marco’s hair.

They lost count of how many times their lips crashed together, each kiss melting into the other. Time seemed to stop for them, freezing them in this perfect moment, everything building to the heat passing between them now. Every smile, every inside joke, every glance that lasted too long, every post-it note. They led to this, to this perfect moment, this perfect kiss. This perfect love. 

Jean and Marco were lost to the world completely, and may never have returned if it weren’t for the door opening. They broke apart as the door shut with a nervous slam, and footsteps quickly retreated from the room. Both boys paused, staring at the door. 

“Your roommate?” Jean asked, turning to Marco. 

“Oops,” Marco said with a nervous laugh. “Guess I forgot to lock the door.” Jean snorted, and Marco couldn’t help bursting out laughing, causing Jean to laugh with him. They held each other, laughing for a few moments, smiling softly at one another as the giggles slowly subsided. 

“You know, maybe that wasn’t all that stupid,” Jean said after a few moments, still staring at Marco with the softest of smiles. 

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve actually wanted to do that for a while now.” 

Marco beamed. “Me too. Ever since I found that list of similes for freckles in your desk.”

Jean flushed. “You found that?!”

“Maybe,” Marco shrugged. “I liked your creativity.” Jean hid his face in his hands with a mortified moan. “And hey, if you’re as creative a lover as you are a simile-maker, then I think this is going to work out swimmingly.”

Jean laughed from behind his hands. “I don’t know if I’m all that creative. When I first met you, even though I knew your name, I called you ‘That guy from down the hall.’” Marco laughed. “I’m serious. Do you really want _me_ to be in charge of coming up with pet names for you?”

Marco pulled Jean’s hands into his own and squeezed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jean leaned forward and kissed him again. 

Marco had heard plenty of horror stories about dating in college, and considered himself the luckiest one of all to have stumbled upon Jean Kirschtein in that lounge with a nearly empty pint of ice cream, just waiting for his soul mate to drop in. How very lucky indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
